Hidden Secrets of Skinflats

SKINFLATS.......the name doesn't sound too alluring and the village itself is not a place that the tourist board would describe as 'quaint and picturesque' but the area holds a hidden gem.
Slap bang in the middle of an industrial landscape is a small RSPB nature reserve which has barely changed in the last fifty years.
To the North - the River Forth with the huge Longannet Power Station on the opposite bank
To the East - the River Carron, Grangemouth docks & the vast petro-chemical industry
To the South - the M9 motorway with the sprawl of Falkirk beyond.
To the West - the M876 spur and the busy bridges of Kincardine and Clackmannanshire
....but this reserve is a little gem, a real oasis for wildlife.
It is by no means a flagship RSPB site, parking is limited and some of the paths are basic but it is well worth a visit, and that is exactly what I did one sunny day a few weeks back.
I parked up on the roadside (avoiding blocking the gate) and walked up the track that runs alongside the river Carron. The first thing that struck me was the amount of undisturbed scrubland there was on either side, no-one had been near this with a strimmer or a scythe.
This area is being farmed, there were crops growing in most fields and there was cattle in one field but the field boundaries were still edged with Hawthorn and Wild Rose bushes, the drainage ditches were full of tall reeds, it was just like being back in time to when I was a youngster exploring the countryside.
And the amount of birds around in this relatively unkempt area was absolutely brilliant, luckily I had taken my camera with me. There were Swallows swooping low over the fields and the tarmac track.
There were House Sparrows making use of some old barbed wire as a perch, which made for a World War 1 trench-like photo:



House Sparrows on barbed wire

In the Hawthorn bushes brightly coloured Yellowhammers belted out their distinctive call (which is supposed to sound like "a little bit of bread and no cheeeeese")


Male Yellowhammer

From the depths of some reeds a Sedge Warbler sang it's scratchy little song, popping up to the top of a bush long enough for me to snap it with my camera. You can hopefully make it out in the photo below (trust me this is a good view of a sedge warbler!!)



Sedge Warbler

 Near the end of the track there is a rough path which takes you through a small stand of Scot's Pine. I have seen Long-eared Owl in this little wooded copse some years before but not today, what I did see was a Tree-creeper and a Chiff-chaff. My photo of the Tree-creeper did not turn out too well but I did get one or two of the Chiff-chaff as you can see below:


Chiff-chaff

It's not the most exciting looking bird to non-bird watchers but that is often the case with these little warblers...........what birders describe as LBJs (little brown jobs). This one is usually easy to identify because it calls its own name several times i.e. chiffchaff, chiffchaff, chiffchaff.......easy peasy, but it was not calling on that day!
Beyond this little woodland the path went through the field the cows were kept in and the quality of path degenerated from poor to mudbath. In hindsight I should have put my boots or wellies on but no! I had my trainers on my feet and had to tread gingerly to avoid the mud, the puddles and the cow pats.
After the cow field the path improves and there is a spot where you can stand and observe the two lagoons (or pools) the RSPB have created to give wading birds somewhere to rest up when the tide is high and covering the mudflats where they feed. This is where you get an idea how near the reserve is to the local industry as the following photos hopefully illustrate:


Skinflats Lagoons & Grangemouth



Greylag Geese flying over Grangemouth Docks

Skinflats Lagoons & Longannet Power Station

Greylag Geese & Gulls at Skinflats Lagoons

 Despite this close proximity to industrial areas and the fact that most waders were out on the mudflats of the river Forth as it was low tide the lagoons still had some interesting birds on them. This included Greylag Geese, Black-headed Gulls, Oyster-catchers, Lapwings, Cormorants, Tufted Ducks and a few more I have forgotten (old age creeping in!)
Next to this spot where I was observing the lagoons was another small woodland so I thought I would have a wander through there. In tramping through the woodland I accidentally disturbed a pair of juvenile Buzzards that were resting (or roosting) in the trees, luckily I had my camera in my hand and managed to grab a few shots of them flying off.


Juvenile Buzzard



Juvenile Buzzard Flying Away

The adult Buzzard was flying overhead and did not look too pleased with me so I left the woodland and went back to the track near the lagoons. As I stood watching the birds on the lagoons (a bench would be nice here) a few small birds were darting in and out of the nearby Hawthorn bushes and I grabbed my camera hoping to get a photo of them. The first ones I caught were Goldfinches which were nice and colourful in the sunshine as you can see below:


Goldfinch

 I then got a fleeting photo of a pair of Willow Warblers, which were most likely youngsters as they were very lemony coloured underneath:


Willow Warblers

In adult form Willow Warblers look very similar to the Chiff-chaff I seen earlier, but guess what?.......they don't say chiffchaff, chiffchaff, chiffchaff..........they don't say willow, willow, willow either but have a 'melodious song in a falling scale'.
I carried on down the path that runs South in order to complete the circular route (more rectangular really) back to my car. On the way back I came across yet another warbler, this time a Whitethroat (so called because it has a white throat, which I'm sure you guessed) anyway the photo is not great as it was not being very helpful and hid in the bushes.


Whitethroat

There were more birds on the way back including another couple of Yellowhammers and more Sedge Warblers, but the one bird I did photograph was a Reed Bunting which had its beak crammed full of insects, which it was no doubt catching to feed its youngsters.


Reed Bunting

So not a bad day's birding and I was only there for about three hours. If you get a chance to go to the reserve at Skinflats I would definitely recommend it. I would also recommend you wore boots or wellies.

Take care,

Teddy Edward